wound

Ok folks, this post comes with lots of warnings. The following photos contain blood, open wounds, stitches, and open wounds. Did I mention open wounds? Oh yeah, and there's open wounds.

Stop reading right now if you are grossed out by this sort of thing.
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You've been warned. If you're still reading then here we go . . .


This is Ben's incision after it was opened on March 16. That little section that was still closed was the part where the skin had actually healed together for the most part. They left those staples in. The rest were pulled out by two surgeons in about oh, three minutes of flurried activity. Which included one doctor saying "Oh!" when they opened the right side and a blob of pus and blood ran out. Yep, that's Ben. Bringin' sexy back ;)

Here's the top view from that same day.

Kind of looks like a shark or a bear got a hold of him doesn't it?

Now here is his wound on April 11, after having the wound vac on for almost a month. AMAZING right? The right side is almost entirely closed. It's just about a quarter of an inch deep in the deepest part. The skin on the very outside edge started closing up about week before this picture was taken.

This part is taking longer to close even though it was never as deep as the right side. Every time I unwrap his dressing it looks like the entire wound has been shrunk. Slowly the edges are creeping together. You can kind of make out the purplish, grainy new skin along the edges.

So there you go, in the spirit of sharing, that's what a liver transplant incision looks like if you have to go the open wound/ wound vac route. Honestly, it's not that bad to look at in person. The vac keeps it dry, and there's no smell. And it once it starts healing, it goes fast. I wish they would have just put him on one to begin with. I'm sure the insurance company has some hand in not wanting them to be used. I can only imagine the cost vs. going the staple route.